John zeek



(No Model.)

J. ZEEK.

RUNNING EEAE EOE VEHICLES.

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lllilllll Illllmlllllli Q ITJVESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.D

JOHN ZEEK, OF OANBY, OREGON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO VILLIAM BLOUNT, OFSAME PLACE.

RUNNING-GEAR SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,350,dated October 19, 1886.

Application filed July 17,1886. Serial No. 208259. (No model.)

T0 all whom, it nwty concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ZEEK, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Canby, in the county of Clackamas and State of Oregon,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Running-Gear forVehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description oi'theinvention, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l is a top view of as much of therunning-gear of a vehicle as will illustrate my invention. Fig. 2is abottom view of the same. Fig. 2X is an enlarged detail view oftheswivclbearings. Fig. 8 is a side view showing the front axle slightlyturned. Fig. 4 is areal' View; Fig. 5, a longitudinal vertical section;and Fig. 6, a transverse section on line m Fig. 5.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention has relation to runninggear for vehicles; and it consistsin the improved construction and combination of parts of such arunning-gear in which the forward axle is secured and pivoted in a forkswiveled in a longitudinal bearing with its shank, as hereinafter morefully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letters A A indicate the reach,preferably made from bars of L-iron. B is the front axle, and O is therear axle. The axles are composed each of two bars, D and E, united atthe spindles F, and braced and held separated from each other by rods Gand suitable scrolls, H, the upper bar being curved and the lower barbeing straight. The front axle is formed with peri'orations I I in thetwo bars, the perforations registering with each other, and theperforated portions of the bars are re-enforced by meansofstripsJ,securedtotheinnersides. Asleeve, K, is placed between there-enforced and perforated portions of the bars, and the king-bolt Lpasses through the perforations and through the sleeve, passing throughthe ends of a fork, M, having perforations N in its ends. The upperbranch of this fork is provided with a cross-piece, O, at the perforatedend, to which the spring may be attached, and the king-bolt passes withits screw-threaded end th rough the perfor-ations, having a nut, P, atits lower end. The rearwardly-projecting shank Q of the fork isjournalcdin bearings It and S, having linings T,of wood, the forward bearingbeing in the apex ofa V-shaped frame, U, having its arms secured to theinner sides of the hounds,

while the rear bearing is in a cross-piece, R.

secured at its ends to the inner sides of the parts ofthe reach, and therear end ofthe shank of the fork is screw-threaded and provided with anut, XV, bearing against the rear bearing.

Forked straps X X are secured to the rear ends of the reach, and haveinwardly-bent lips Y at their ends and perforations Z inside ofthe lips,so that bolts A', passing through these perforations and throughperforations in the ends ot' the forked straps, -inay secure the saidends to the bars, and the lips will serve, furthermore, to secure theaxle in the straps.

It will be seen that the axles will be trussed and braced by having thetwo bars and the spreading rods and scrolls, rendering them very strongin comparison to their weight, and by having the front axle pivoted inthe ends ot' the swivcled fork the axle may have a free motioninvertical planes, as well as in a horizontal plane, preventing thepossibility of breaking portions of the running-gear when passing overrough roads, where the wheels will not touch the ground al1 at the sametime in a vehicle which is not provided with the double swivel, and inwhich case the strain upon the wheels upon which the vehicle rests andthe strain upon the parts ofthe runninggear are liable to break lthesaid parts, while when the vehicle is provided with the double swivelall four wheels may touch the ground at the same time, regardless of thedifferent inclinations upon which the wheels rest, and the vehicle willin this manner be perfectly supported at all times.

The bearings for the shank of the swiveled fork being lined with woodwill prevent the said fork from rattling in the bearings, and when thebearings become worn other linings may be made and inserted in a shortspace of time and at a nominal expense, rendering the bearings as goodas new again.

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The'entire gear is light and strong and durable, and it may bemanufactured at a comparatively low oost, the elements composing itbeing simple of construction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of -the United States- 1 l. In a running-gear forvehicles, the cornbination of the rearwardly-diverging reach havingstraps secured to its rear ends, having forked ends formed withperforations near the inwardly-bent ends, van axle formed by a straight`lower bar and a curved upper bar, and bolts passing through theperforations in the forked straps and through the bars of the axle, theinwardly-bent ends of the forked

